Future Group-Amazon tussle: Biyani company is on strong ground, says HP Ranina

Future Group would succeed if it challenges the Singapore arbitral authority's order against its deal with Reliance Industries (RIL) in the Delhi High Court, says an expert.

“I think Future Group is on strong ground, once they challenge this in the Delhi High Court they should succeed. I don’t think this interim order of the Singapore arbitral authority will have much impact on this deal,” HP Ranina, Senior Lawyer, told CNBC.

“How can FRL be concerned with arbitration proceedings which are lying between Amazon and some other company, though it may belong to the Future Group. Every company is a separate entity, legal entity, and if there is such agreement between Amazon and some other company in the Future Group then arbitral award will be binding only on that particular company and not on FRL, so certainly FRL has a very strong case, and they can’t be bound by that interim order,” Ranina added.

Future Retail Limited (FRL) has asked BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) to process its application for the merger and acquisition of its retail assets with Mukesh Ambani-led RIL claiming that Singapore arbitrator’s order in its dispute with Amazon.com is not enforceable under the Indian law and not binding on the company.

Amazon in a letter to Indian market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had complained about its local partner FRL claiming that it misled shareholders by incorrectly saying it was complying with its contractual obligations to the US e-commerce giant.

Amazon is locked in a bitter legal dispute with Future Group, which in August sold its retail assets to RIL for $3.4 billion. The deal, Amazon alleges, breaches 2019 agreement by Future.